The invention relates to a door lock according to the preamble of Claim 1.
Such a door lock which is designed as a rotary-latch lock and is intended for a vehicle door is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,305. In said document, the said rotary-latch lock has a pair of rotatably mounted rotary latch elements which can be pivoted counter to one another and retain a locking bolt in the rotary latch by means of a blocking lever of the locally actuable release arrangement. For actuation and/or release of the blocking lever by a blocking-lever actuator, the rotary-latch elements pivot away from one another into an unlatched position, which makes it possible for the vehicle door to be opened. For closing the rotary latch, the blocking lever is aligned in a pivotable manner such that, once the user lets go of the blocking-lever actuator, said lever is moved back into engagement with the rotary-latch elements. Under the aligning force, the blocking lever remains in a supporting relationship with the surfaces of rotary-latch elements and moves into a rotary-latch-element blocking position, in which case the rotary-latch elements enclose the locking bolt. Each of the rotary-latch elements has a toothing formation provided on its outer surface, on the rear side of the rotary latch, which is positioned such that they engage in a cam surface of the arm of the blocking lever with mating latching action and guide the same into such a rotary-latch-element position that, in the case of a normal position, they cannot be adjusted.
DE-A 30 10 388 discloses another motor-vehicle door lock, which is provided with a snap-action element which is arranged on a base plate, can be moved into a snapped-in and a non-snapped-in position, comprises two rotary-latch elements and interacts with a catch which retains a locking bolt in the snapped-in position and, upon actuation for movement into the non-snapped-in position, releases said locking bolt and can be actuated via an actuating lever. A pin/slot connection is provided between the actuating lever and the base plate such that the actuating lever can be moved between a normal position and an actuating position and can be displaced as a whole between a coupled position and a decoupled position in relation to the catch. In the coupled position, the actuating lever can be brought into engagement with the catch and moves the latter such that the locking bolt is released when the actuating lever assumes the coupled position and is moved from the normal position into the actuating position. The actuating lever is idling in relation to the catch when it is located in the decoupled position and moves from the normal position into the actuating position without actuating the catch for release of the locking bolt. Also provided is a blocking lever which can be moved between a locking and unlocking position and is connected to the actuating lever via a connecting element, this comprising a protrusion on one lever and a protrusion-accommodating slot in the second lever. The protrusion interacts with the edges of the slot such that, when the blocking lever is moved from the unlocking position into the locking position, the actuating lever is displaced as a whole from the coupled position into the decoupled position. The slot is configured such that, with the actuating lever located in the coupled or decoupled position and moved from the normal position to the actuating position, the protrusion can be moved in the slot.
EP 0 849 424 A1 describes a vehicle-door lock of the generic type, which constitutes a rotary-latch lock for locking a door, in particular a tractor door. The rotary latch, made of two rotary-latch elements, interacts with a rotary-latch spring and a latching member, it being possible for the rotary latch and the latching member to be pivoted and to interactxe2x80x94with the lock being locked in the process. The locking can be released by a lever system which has an actuating lever and acts on the latching member. The latching member can be actuated on a lever-system latching arm which is mounted such that it can be pivoted about a first axis and is in operative connection with an opening lever which can be pivoted about a second axis. The first and the second axes are aligned parallel to one another, there being provided a connecting means, which brings a respective free end of the latching arm and of the actuating lever into operative connection. In this case, the latching arm and the actuating lever can be pivoted in the same direction about their pivot axes.
The known door locks can be actuated by a handle or lever from the outside of the door and by a second lever from the inside of the vehicle, it being the case that a local-release means, i.e. a release mechanism arranged directly on the lock, is actuated usually from outside the vehicle, and the means for actuation from the inside of the vehicle is a remote-release means or remote-actuating means, i.e. for example the means for actuating the lock via a steel wire or an articulating rod.
The disadvantage here is that the remote-release means or remote-actuating means is difficult to adapt to various types of door and that, in particular with the high level of vibration in tractors or other agriculture vehicles, lever systems with multiple transmissions and points of articulation are subjected to loading by vibrations and permanently damaged. Furthermore, cab doors of tractors and other agriculture vehicles, for example combine-harvesters, are designed as full-vision cab doors, i.e. to be transparent without any cavities. Such doors often only have a peripheral tube system as load-bearing elements, with result that conventional remote-release mechanisms such as lever or cable systems cannot be arranged inside a door.
The object of the invention is to provide a door lock, in particular for agricultural vehicles, which is designed such that the remote-actuating means, in particular from the inside of the vehicle, can easily be adapted to different types and shapes of door and can be installed quickly on a door, the mechanism, while being straightforward to install, being particularly robust in relation to vibration loading.
The object is achieved by a door lock having the features of claim 1, and advantageous designs and developments are characterized in the subclaims.
In the door lock, according to the invention, the catch lever is connected to a remotely actuable release arrangement, which is guided and arranged in a crossmember tube, such that the crossmember tube can be pivoted as desired into at least one plane in relation to the lock case, the crossmember tube accommodating the remote-release mechanism. The mechanism is thus designed such that the tube may also have an angled, inflected progression without the reliability of the mechanism being adversely affected. In addition, the actuating lever of the remote-release means is mounted in the tube in a longitudinal displaceable manner.
The lock case constitutes a depression-like or case-like container which has, as contiguous wall parts, a depression base, a first short-side lock wall, a second, opposite short-side lock wall and a first long-side lock wall, the second long-side lock wall being divided in two and comprising a first lock-wall part and a second-lock wall part, the case opening being located approximately centrally between the two lock-wall parts, and it being possible for the locking bolt to be moved into the lock case and out of the lock case through said opening.
The two interconnected lever arms of the catch lever are a vertical lever arm and a horizontal lever arm with an associated angle region, the vertical lever arm having the latching member, preferably in the end region and being directed approximately parallel to the long-side lock wall, and the horizontal lever arm being directed approximately parallel to the short-side lock wall and extending into the corner region of the lock walls, alongside the bottom rotary-latch element.
The horizontal lever arm of the catch lever is connected to the remotely actuable release arrangement, which can be actuated preferably from the inside, and the remote-release lever thereof.
The vertical lever arm of the catch lever, said arm being assigned to the rotary latch, is connected to the handle-actuable release arrangement and the local-release lever thereof.
The remote-release lever and the local-release lever are assigned to the catch lever independently of one another, the remote-release lever being connected to the horizontal lever arm via an end-side engagement element in each case, and the local-release lever being connected to the vertically directed lever arm.
The catch lever is spring-assisted, the pressure of the spring being directed in the direction of the rotary latch.
The door-handle-actuable release arrangement is provided with a pivotable door handle which is incorporated in a door-handle depression, the door handle being connected to a lever device, fastened on the door-handle depression, and a platform, fastened on said lever device, in the direction transverse to the door-handle depression, the local-release lever being pivotable by virtue of the movement of the platform.
The release arrangement which can be actuated by a button inside the door comprises, outside the lock case, a preferably step-like tube-retaining angle part, a pivotable crossmember tube, which is fastened on said angle part, is open in the direction of the lock case and is provided at the other, free end with a tube crimping formation which can be installed in a door-adapted manner and is provided with a slot, and also comprises a contact device, which is located on and in the crossmember tube and from which a tension cable, reinforced at the end by a cable hook, is guided to the perforated remote-release lever which is connected to the tube-retaining angle part and is ready for accommodating the cable hook.
The tube-retaining angle part comprises the angle-part member, which is fastened or integrally formed vertically preferably on the border side of the bottom cover part, a step spacer part, which is offset to the side of the lock case from the cover part, and a tube-retaining part, one end side of the crossmember tube being fastened thereon, preferably screwed thereto.
The tube-retaining angle part constitutes a securing and spacer element which is minimalized in terms of material and shape.
The first short-side lock wall has a preferably rectangular cutout opening in the corner region, between the first long-side lock wall and the cover part.
The cover is divided in two into a first, bottom cover part and a second, top cover part, there being provided on the first, bottom cover part a projecting rotary-hole extension which is angled outwards at right angles, to which the local-release lever is screwed in a pivotably mounted manner, and on which the tube-retaining angle part is integrally formed, the crossmember tube being fastened on said angle part.
Both the rotary-hole extension and the tube-retaining angle part are arranged preferably on a cover part, at right angles to one another.
The tension cable or the rod is connected to the functional interior of the lock case via the engagement continuation and the remote-release lever, which is mounted such that it can be pivoted about the axis.
The remote-release lever is fastened on the tube-retaining angle part by means of the rotary-mounting screw, a window being provided in the lock case, in particular in the bottom cover part, in the region of the remote-release lever, in order that the catch lever, which can be pivoted in the lock case, can be actuated via the engagement continuation, which is integrally formed on the remote-release lever.
The crossmember tube, preferably with associated tube crimping formation located at the free tube end, is fastened on the tube-retaining part of the tube-retaining angle part such that it can be adjusted via the tube-securing block and the screw-connection.
The catch lever can be actuated by means of the remote-release lever or by means of the local-release lever independently of one another.
The two release levers may be connected to the catch lever, in particular to the lever arms thereof, via further different recessed, corresponding latching elements which are introduced.
The crossmember tube of the button-actuable release arrangement is fastened pivotably on, in particular screwed to, the tube-retaining part of the step-like tube-retaining angle part.
In the crossmember tube, the tension cable or the rod is guided up to the contact device, which is arranged preferably centrally on the crossmember tube and is directed vertically upwards out of the cut-open tube.
On the angle-part member, which is located outside the lock case, the remote-release lever is provided in a pivotably mounted manner by means of the rotary-mounting screw.
Integrally formed on the remote-release lever is a cable mount which is provided with a securing hole, the securing hole securing the cable hook, which is reinforced in relation to the tension cable or the rod, and the cable mount and the engagement continuation being directed preferably in parallel.
The crossmember tube has on its top side, preferably in the longitudinal centre, a longitudinal-slot opening and an arresting-action longitudinal tube opening, in which the contact device with the button is fastened in a longitudinally displaceable manner.
The button is connected to a button-retaining body which is located in the tube and comprises a clamping-body part, which is assigned to the arresting-action longitudinal tube opening in the crossmember-tube region, and a button-retaining-body part assigned to the lateral body.
Provided outside the outer tube wall are a clamping screw, which can be actuated preferably by a socket-head-screw wrench, and a clamping ring, which is located between the clamping-screw head and outer tube wall and by means of which the button-retaining body, and thus also the angle xcex1 of a rocker-like pivoting body, can be arrested in a manner in which they have been adjusted in relation to the inner tube wall.
The clamping-body part is designed to be preferably equal to or narrower than the width of the longitudinal-slot opening, for straightforward installation of the contact device in the crossmember tube.
In the transition region from the arresting-action longitudinal tube opening to the longitudinal-slot opening, the clamping-body part is provided respectively with a left-hand transverse stop edge and a right-hand transverse stop edge, which are directed transversely to the progression of the tube and each run up to the contact-body centre part, which terminates, in the longitudinal direction of the tube, a little way above the retaining-body bearing, the contact-body side parts butting, by way of their continuing border regions, against the transverse stop edges of the clamping-body part such that the button is secured in a predetermined state in its normal position.